Kennys Pokémon Adventure
by Curugane
Summary: Waking up in an unknown world is never easy, but a few friends can at least make a not so fun time more bearable.
1. Chapter 1

Fair warning people, this is simply a pet project that I work on when I'm bored or I can't come up with anything to write on my Highschool DxD story; Shackled Wings. A good enough response may get me to give a little more focus on this one, even if I'm going to put more thought and time into Shackled Wings. As it stands right now this could be the only chapter that ever comes up on FF… Or at least for a long while.

That aside, I decided to try a new personality twist on the ordinary human x Gardevoir formula, if this ever gets off the ground it's going to focus more on the journey than the story. There will be arcs here and there, but its more character based than anything else.

Oh, and **Disclaimer: Read 's guidelines regarding posting stories.**

Rated M for realistic battles and mature content… whenever or if ever that time arrives… not sure yet.

Kenny's Pokémon Adventure

Chapter 1

"Okay? Where in the hell am I?"

 _Deep breaths, deep breaths._

Not like I need to take any, the only thing racing at this moment are my thoughts.

Did I get drunk?

No go, even if I were to fall for peer pressure in such a pathetic manner, I would not actually drink until I forget what I've done, never mind pass out. Even on the off chance I did I feel completely fine now, no hangover.

Okay, what else? Drugged?

Then where are the dragons and zombies? Shouldn't I be tripping balls right now, then?

Lucid dreaming? That would be a first, where is something to read when you need it? Oh well, at least it's worth a try.

I close my eyes and imagine myself on a mountaintop. The world falls away, producing a vast expanse of clear blue sky above me and as far as the eye can see. Below I witness the mountain slowly change into a thick forest, creating a green carpet into the distance. Beyond, joined with the sky, is the sea, the glittering invincible from this distance but never the less still looking like a beautiful sapphire.

I open my eyes.

Same fucking forest…

I sigh, as if I would be lucky enough to have a lucid dream. The fact that I could question the situation ought to have alerted me to that little fact. I simply don't question having to run between two rows of Victorian era wagons with cannons of varying sizes poking out toward the "corridor" I'm supposed to run down without any kind of protection… for mud to make a weapon… out of said mud… yup… At least it had a purple-ish colour, so it was not completely in vain.

Chuckling self derisively from my failed attempt at taking my mind of the current situation I take a second look around. I am definitively not in any forest I've ever seen before. Well, I suppose that's not completely true, I may never have been in the redwood forest but the size of some of these trees definitively make it similar enough, even if it's the only similarity. Problem is that alongside these giant, near hundred meter trees are normal sized ones growing, oak trees to be precise, or at least a tree that easily pass as oak, and there is a distinct lack of any ferns. Instead there's grass growing here… or whatever the green thing that is growing to my mid-thigh is called, sure as hell looks like grass to me. That is all to be seen from here, though, no house or road or anything to indicate human intervention in the nearby area.

 _Only one thing to do then…_

There is one rule that any happy camper should follow: if you're lost in a forest, stay put where you are. Chances are higher you'll be found if you stay in one spot and listen for those that are out looking for you.

I am now going to give that rule the finger. Why? Well, for one; I'm not a happy camper, and two; who the hell would know to look for me here, in this forest, when _I_ don't even know how I got here or where here even is? I'm not going to proclaim myself a survival expert, but I at least know how to build a shelter, so long as I can find some kind of water source I ought to be able to survive a week or two while following it back to civilization.

Placing my bets on my logically sound assumption I start to head in a random direction, listening intently for anything that would signal a road or water. Stepping over stones and oak roots, around tall trees and through bushes I keep an eye out for any snake that might be around.

Wouldn't do to get bit on top of being lost.

Around a small rock formation, under one of the tall trees that have somehow fallen, over a rock, around a tall tree, oak, oak, oak, tall tree, rock, oak, thorny bush (ouch!), oak, rock, tall rock, small oak, big tree. Nothing to be seen but the passing of a slightly different oak, a tall tree just as wide as the rest, bushes and rock formations.

I continue walking and soon shut out the monotonous scenery and simply run on auto pilot.

Time quickly become indistinguishable, I have walked twenty minutes, one hour, two hours, three hours, half an hour? I freeze in my step and can only feel an overwhelming sense of annoyance with myself.

"Fackförening…"

I have woken up somewhere in a forest I don't know how I got to, or having put myself into a situation that could put me in one… yet I have my clothes on, those being my blue jeans, red tank top and open grey sweater. To add to that, I also have my shoes on, a black leather jacket as well as my black cowboy hat, the last of which I rarely use… and I have yet to actually check my pockets. Count on me to figure these things out at a later time than necessary, always two thirds done before I get a great idea on how to make my life just a little easier.

Reaching for my inner pocket with a sigh, of course it's where it's supposed to be, I fish the device out and with some small hope I start up the phone…

Tsunami, meet ember of hope, ember of hope, meet tsunami. I hope you get along!

"Weeeeell, that was predictable." With no connection whatsoever I simply take note of the time before turning it off and put it back in its reserved pocket. No sense in wasting batteries.

15:48

I take another look around me… same old, same old. Taking a brief minute to debate whether I should change direction and settling on continuing my present course rather than risk going in a circle, I secure my hat and resume my walking.

I walk for what feels like half an hour before a growing trepidation force me to stop, for some reason my every instinct tells me to go in any other direction than my current one. I try to shake it off as simple nerves, I have been left in the middle of the wilds after all. Honestly, it's shocking that feelings of anxiety and fear have only started to manifest now.

Another step forward, two, five, twenty, each step echoes my feelings, telling me to submit, to trust my instincts.

Thirty steps, forty-five, fifty-two.

Something bad is going to happen to me if I go that way.

Sixty steps and I come to a complete halt, like a maglev train going from 400 km/h to an absolute stop in 0,2 seconds.

 _Nuh-uh!_ Better safe than sorry. Quickly turning to walk off to the right I struggle to keep from running.

 _Even if that's what I really want to do at the moment!_

A few minutes' pass, or is it hours?

High-strung, I can't measure time, tall tree, oak, oak, oak, bush, rock formation, tall tree, oak, rock, tall tree.

The unchanging scenery in the area doesn't help and the feeling of being lost truly start to settle in.

Tall tree, oak, bush, oak, oak, bush, rock, oak, tall tree.

Slowly my trepidation calm and leave me, my instincts, while not quiet, stop shouting at me to run. Continue moving away, it instead tells me, and I wisely follow it. Feeling sufficiently calmed, I lift my hat and try to spot the position of the sun through the canopy.

Failure… damn trees.

Taking my hand down I notice a sheen on it, like water. Quickly making the connection I swipe my forehead and look at my hand. Checking my clothes, I notice that I'm practically drenched in sweat, a testament to what the previous situation did to me. There is nothing to do about it though, I will have to persevere till I can dry them, or, even better, wash them out.

I lose track of time as I continue walking. If it weren't for the fact that the few shadows beneath the canopy were moving I would think the sun had stopped in the sky. The area had not changed in the least either, so I find myself repeatedly telling myself that it could take days before I see any change in my surroundings.

Easy enough to say; evidently not as easy a concept to accept. I'm overreacting of course; the oaks are all different enough from each other; _that does prove_ I am at least getting somewhere, that I'm not moving in one big circle. Still everything feels the same, if not looking it. Strangely enough, though, it isn't the parts that looks the same that drive me up the metaphorical wall, but the things that look different. Or perhaps it is the combination; I know I'm getting somewhere, that much is blatantly obvious, yet it's as if I have yet to even move. Not sure which, or why for that matter, but it is nagging on my mood, and adding what happened earlier to the equation do nothing to better it.

I can feel that a bigger problem has started to manifest itself however: hunger, or rather thirst. What was that saying again, about how long a person could survive without the essentials for life? Oh yes, three seconds without hope, three minutes without oxygen, three days without water and three weeks without food. Food I can deal without for a while but the thirst would kill me within days, it all depended on the circumstances. I have yet to see a single drop of water however.

 _Now_ I'm starting to question the decisions in my life, such as: why in the bloody hell did I not join the scouts or something as a kid?

 _At least I would know how to get something to drink…_

I shake my head, no need to even start with that, it's only going to make my mood plummet more than it already has. I take notice of the sun, or rather the shadows in the forest. It would grow dark faster under the thick canopy than anywhere else and when that happened it would become impossible for me to work, never mind find my way. Not that I have any idea how long it'll take for the light to disappear but I'd rather not risk it.

I stop for the day and look around me. The one thing I directly take notice of is the lack of anything noteworthy, nothing I haven't yet seen as I walked here. Shaking that off, I look for something to at least use as a landmark.

An oak with a hollowed-out trunk about hallway to its top catch my immediate attention, especially because it looks like it's a large yawning creature if you squint. Going towards it, I take note of which side points in the direction I'm heading before looking around the area. The tree itself may work as a place to build a shelter but I honestly think I can do better than this. I take note of a fallen tree about a hundred meters away and start heading for it.

It's another oak, fully grown with a wide trunk bellowing its age but the way it has fallen leave me questioning. I had seen trees be felled by strong winds before, it would be the roots that couldn't take the strain and get ripped out of the ground. This tree had not done that, instead it had been ripped apart a couple of metres off the ground like something had made the trunk explode, felling the upper part of the tree while the lower part of the trunk remained standing.

 _Oh well._

It must have been some time since this happened, the wood was dry and on some parts of the trunk I could actually pick the wood apart with my fingers. It would make for perfect kindling. The only problem was to get the branches… this stupid fool doesn't carry around an axe… or a knife large enough to cut up a tree… or any knife for that matter.

Drawing a sigh, I start to look for a rock that could potentially do the job.

After spending far longer than I ever wanted to look for a rock with any kind of sharpness, and failing in the endeavour, I start to head to a nearby hill, making sure I know which tree act as my landmark. Passing the mound that could barely even be classified as an increase in height I find a pleasant surprise that have a smile grow on my lips: berries. Quickly finding myself in front of the bush and about to eat, I freeze in hesitation. A second pass before I slump over, a strange combination of feeling pissed and utterly depressed coming over me.

I fucking hate my life right now, I have never seen these before! For all I know they are poisonous… Actually, now when I look around my surroundings I notice there are more bushes with berries as well as patches of mushrooms around the area.

 _No, not around the area. How the hell did I miss them when walking through the forest!? What's worse: I can't even eat any of them out of fear of poisoning!_

Now that I think about what I've missed, have I even seen any animals around? Actually, why are there no sounds from the birds? It may be in the middle of summer but there ought to still be some singing. Have they stopped or were there never any song? Leaving the berries, I resume my search for a rock while ignoring my hunger pangs and the possible implications the lack of animals could have for me, the former being relatively easy, the latter being far harder.

~-o0O0o-~

Unease quickly turned to annoyance, the few actual rocks that I get to are the ordinary large boulders you can find in any damnable forest. It took me some time but I finally found a place where I could find rocks of the correct size, problem was I had to dig at the side of a tree. This one was one of those redwood sized trees that somehow had fallen over, another thing to put on the list of things to wonder about, especially when you consider the size of those roots; they were as thick as a grown man and I'll damn well bet on some of them being about two-fifths the length of the tree itself.

Said tree was above 80 meters and by no means in a position to be easily blown over by a small gust of wind.

A large chunk of earth had been pulled up together with the roots however, showing that there were rocks in the correct size, all I had to do was go down about thirty meters below ground and dig, and hopefully I would find something fitting my needs.

The rest of the time was spent doing exactly that.

While I do remember, memo to self: always carry a shovel around with you.

When I finally found a rock that could be usable, which thankfully it was, it was the one that I had to move seven other ten kilogram rocks before I could even pull loose. Then came the fact that while it had the correct shape, one end being somewhat like an axe and the other being pointy like a knife, but not actually having any remote cutting power.

Memo to self: ALWAYS CARRY A FUCKING KNIFE!

Having spent the next half over to, read gently, shape the side to have at least a bit of an edge I got to make a shelter.

Moving around the fallen oak I select my branches with perhaps too much care before cutting them up. I had decided to make a lean to shelter after having found another, more agreeable, oak near my landmark one while searching for a suitable tool. There is a good spot in between two roots that will allow me to lie on a makeshift bed, the problem now was the length and thickness of the different branches necessary for both the bed and the shelter itself.

I take notice of how the area have grown darker, while it should still be some time before the area would be swallowed by the night it was enough to make me hasten my work. Having gathered what was necessary for the shelters basic structure I carry them to my chosen tree and prop them up in a manner that will allow me to lean other branches against them, the idea being that on the off chance it rains the water will flow down them rather than drip on me.

Half an hour later I'm standing in front of a finished shelter, and feeling rather proud of myself. Next came the fire, I had the necessary wood to make a bed, but I needed something to put underneath it to keep the heat from escaping, as well as for starting the fire. The other reason I selected this area was that it was clear from roots.

 _Clear from roots does not mean it's clear of this bloody high grass… argh time to dig again…_

On the positive side; I didn't have to go far to find something to put under the bed in the shelter.

Grabbing a handful of the grass I hack it off at the bottom. Doing this a few more times I deposit the gathered grass in the shelter and start over. By the time I've finished cutting enough grass, not to mention the twigs to make the whole thing breathe, to fill up the inside of the shelter and start hacking up the earth near what's going to be my fire pit, the forest floor had become murky.

By the time I manage to get the area sufficiently cleared and dug a shallow hole, as well as put up an earth wall around it, to safely put a fire in, it was already dark. I had begrudgingly resolved myself to the chance of having to use my phone for this part, still didn't mean I liked the idea of wasting batteries…

Fishing it out of my pocket, I start it up and enter my password before swiping down on the display. Pressing the flashlight icon, the sudden light disturbs my night vision enough to make it hard to see for several seconds. Once my eyesight return I dig the phone down slightly into the ground so it would be stable and pick up a large piece of dried out bark taken from the fallen oak and put it down in the light. Opening the button for the right pocket on my jacket where I placed the dried-out wood, which had fallen apart with age, together with some dried-out leaves to be used as kindling, I look for the stick I picked up from the redwood lookalike to start the fire.

Night vision ruined, I'm reduced to use my hands to search for it. A few seconds of searching yield nothing. Holding back a sigh of irritation I pull out the phone and look. Nothing… I lift the piece of bark I've selected to use to create an ember and shine under it...

Standing with a groan I turn the flashlight to where I just sat and immediately spot it. Plopping down again, careful of not accidentally sitting on my stick, again, I simply return to getting the fire started.

Phone once again standing stable and illuminating the bark, I place the stick into a prearranged hole and start spinning while pushing it down. Once my hands go too far down I place them at the top and redo the motion again and again… and again… and again…

 _I am not getting anywhere with this… done a great job to put up a shelter only to be outdone by a goddamn fire…_

Who knew it would be so hard to get a fire going by spinning a twig on wood? I sure as hell didn't… five, ten minutes and not even a wisp of smoke? As if my arms weren't tired already, as if I wasn't tired already.

Just as my patience is about to give out, what I've been working for happens and a bit of smoke come out of the hole. With renewed effort, I again increase the speed of my spinning, producing more and more smoke as a consequence. Putting down the stick, I quickly take out the leaves, half of which I crush, and aged wood to get the actual fire started. Taking great care to not destroy my own work I put a few smaller pieces of the dried-out leaves in the hole and put a whole leaf on top to keep the smaller pieces from going anywhere as I gently blow. Within a minute I have to put more leaves on top, also adding some of the wood for the ember to ignite. It takes some time, but soon I have a fire going.

Sadly, I was not done yet, picking up my phone, turning it off again to preserve batteries and pocketing it, and my makeshift axe/dagger I head back out toward the fallen oak. Thankfully, it wasn't that far away from the tree I'm going to sleep at, but a small amount of apprehension is still building in my stomach. While I had spent the time trying not to think about it more than strictly necessary, what happened earlier today have been on and off my mind ever since it happened, that being the reason for throwing myself so zealously into my work. Now, however, I can't help but think about what might be out there. While I don't want to do this, the harsh reality is that if I don't get more wood the fire won't be around for long, which could be even more dangerous. I'm operating under the assumption that whatever made me feel like I did before is out there somewhere and I really don't want to take any chances on it approaching in my sleep.

Hurrying to the tree and selecting the branches that I will be able to work with back at the fire, I begin hacking. With every swing the ache in my right arm increases, a solid thud resounding around the area with every swing, making me fear that something might come this way. I'm not exactly someone who goes to the gym, preferring to stay inside and not do anything too strenuous, so I am somewhat shocked that my strength have held out till now with all the physical stuff that's happened today.

Sadly, that also means I can't defend myself efficiently if it comes to that. Feeling the thick branch come lose from the tree after several minutes of hitting I pull it back to the fire, getting stuck on a few roots on the way, before returning and beginning on a new one.

Thud, thud, thud, thud.

 _Can't this go any faster!_ Through, one more must do.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

Just as desperation start to set in I get through the last one. Grabbing my two somewhat smaller branches than my first, I hurry back to the safety of the lit campfire, all the while keeping clear of any tree that could even remotely hinder me.

It takes some time for me to cut the wood into manageable pieces after that and by the time I'm done I'm completely exhausted in both mind and body, and I believe my arm is in need of a funeral.

Having thrown some more wood on the fire I finally crawl into my shelter. A tight fit, but I'll have to make due, besides it's supposed to retain heat better this way. Not that retaining heat would be necessary seeing as the night air was quite pleasant. No, to me the shelter is more for the feeling of safety. That said, I desperately try to ignore the fact that it's also keeping me looked down if something did find my camp interesting.

I lie awake maybe another hour or two before sleep finally finds me…

~-o0O0o-~

My sleep has been surprisingly peaceful, discounting the headache I'm nursing, as well as the fact I awoke at what I can only assume were regular intervals. I can't complain about the last one however, it helped alleviate my fear of the fire going out, each time I woke I would check it and, if necessary, put more wood for it to burn. The firewood didn't last however, thankfully it was in the early morning hours that I used up the last of it, maybe an hour or two before sunrise.

Right now, though, I simply stare at the branches that make out the wall of my shelter, they were by no means perfect to use to build shelter with, and it was a real pain to put together. What was an even bigger pain, and something my body were now beating me over for, was sleeping on the gnarled branches. They were straight enough to work but that did not make them very comfy. So, despite having had a relatively good night of sleep, my body felt stiff and sore. Another memo, oak branches does not make for a good bed. Still, at least I wouldn't die of hypothermia.

Shaking off these thoughts I crawl out of my temporary abode with a far more pressing problem on my mind: water. I'm starting to feel really thirsty and without having any actual idea of how long I've been without something to drink it's in my very best interest to find a water source.

Checking the pocket of my jacket to ensure I haven't dropped my phone, I look around my campsite for anything of worth to me.

Spotting what I'm looking for, I head to pick it up. The improvised axe/knife sit somewhat clumsily in my hand. It was a roughly triangle formed rock about forty centimetres in length and five centimetres wide, with one side being bent inward and the other relatively flat. I had somehow managed to shape the entire bent side to somewhat resemble an edge, it wouldn't actually cut anything but it had proven itself useful as a tool.

'Axe' in hand, seeing as I have no other way to transport it, I put on my hat and head for my landmark to get my bearings again.

Tree, tree, mushroom, tree, rock, bush, tree with a bush, tree, tree, tree, no birds, boulder, tree, tree with a rock with a thorny bush with berries, tree,tree,tree,mushroom,tree,tree,bush,tree,rock.

"Am I perhapenchance in a forest? I would never had guessed, but thank you for the reminder either way, I do really appreciate the sentiment…" I dryly whisper to myself. I'm met with the same problem that I had yesterday: the feeling of not getting anywhere despite the visual proof that I am. This time, however, it didn't come in the form of unease or desperation, but rather palpable frustration. Still, it is starting to take a mental toll on me.

I walk for hours before I stop to rest, I can feel the beginning stages of dehydration settle in. I'm not salivating as much, making my throat and mouth dry, I've also started to tire more quickly. Worst is that the headache I had gotten sometime during the night have only gotten worse as time passed, it's now at the point I'm starting to feel lightheaded. I had thought I woke up quite fast when I first found myself in this forest, but now I'm starting to question how long I had been laying there before waking up.

I take out my phone and start it up, take note of the time and lack of connectivity before shutting it off again. It's closing in on twelve o'clock.

After some time, I'm having to force myself to keep on walking. I'm understanding the very real danger I'm in and can't waste any more time than necessary. I'm being forced to rest far more during my hours long trek than I had to yesterday, and as time pass I have to do so more often and for longer periods. The feeling that the lack of change in scenery implant on me continue to increase, coupled with my growing thirst I start to lose hope of even making it to a water source alive, not to mention out of this accursed forest. It's becoming increasingly harder to hold any positive thought.

Suddenly something in my peripheral catch my attention, a sudden change I couldn't ignore even if I wanted to. Stopping, I close my eyes and rub them. It can only have been a hallucination, I'm obviously far worse off in my dehydration than I initially thought. I open my eyes and turn slightly toward what my mind just conjured up.

One of those tall trees are in the way.

Walking around it I'm left open mouthed in wonder seeing something I have never seen before. It was a large oak, and I use that word because that's what it was in comparison to all other oaks I'd seen before this one. That in itself, while noteworthy, was not what caught my attention, however. It was the… things… hanging from and sticking to the tree, or rather trees. Five or six trees had these things, even the tall ones, hanging from a branch or sticking to the bark.

The things were large, well over a meter in length each and probably around ninety centimetres in diameter at the widest with an oblong shape with a yellowish-brown colour. Their tops are dome shaped with two triangular black markings, reminding me of the eyeholes of an old helmet. The body can only be described as being covered by layered plates, and I can for some reason only compare the general shape to that of a fly, or at least to that of some insects.

 _Where have I seen something like these before…?_ I haven't, I can swear to that all day and night, yet these things tickle some nerve in the memory department, I _have_ seen something oddly similar to this.

A sudden crack ring out through the area, making me stiffen. Several more resound in quick succession, one of which originates from the very thing in front of me.

"W-w-w-wait a fucking minute now! One fucking minute!"

*CRACK!*

"Please, fucking, please don't tell me these are what I think they are, because that is impossible, simply impossible, I'M FUCKING HALLUCINATING! These things can't be Kakuna?! PLAEASE, FUCKING PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE SHOW SOME DAMN MERCY HERE, PLEASE!"

*CRACK, CRACK, CRACK*

Giant, four legged, yellow and black insects, with the biggest fucking stingers I have ever hoped to never ever see ever on both their abdomen and their upper legs, start to make their way out of the things, making me completely freeze with a single sentence running through my head as a terrifying mantra: _WASPS AS LARGE AS ME, WASPS AS LARGE AS ME, WASPS AS LARGE AS ME, WASPSASLARGEASME!_

I stand there, frozen stiff in complete, unbridled terror, for what feels like several torturous decades, simply staring at the oversized insects as they exit their cocoons and let their wings set. I stand unmoving as one of them turn its head to me. Suddenly my every instinct tells me to run and a feeling that could put the apprehension I felt yesterday to shame shake my mind. As I turn from my position and start running like I had the devil on my ass, something I'd much rather have than these Beedrills, I hear the buzzing start and quickly increase to a deafening pitch. I can literally hear as the giant insects leave their perches and take chase after me, creating an even larger incentive to pump my legs.

*Pant, pant, pant*

A black and yellow blur shots past in front of me and with it I feel a sharp tug on my jacket toward the same direction. Losing speed and changing direction somewhat from the changed momentum and the shock, my instincts scream for me to get out of the way, stumbling as I try. At that same second a stinger whiz past where my head had been, scratching my shoulder and cheek as it does, making the areas sting and providing me with the force to tumble and fall to the ground, the second attack missing me with centimetres as a consequence.

Quickly rolling over I see another Beedrill from the swarm coming straight down at me, leg stingers pulled back and prepared to strike. Barely rolling out of the way the enraged insect send jab after jab after me, giving me more scratches and shredding my clothes. Getting tired of chasing me it aims the stinger in front of me, making me stop my roll, buzzing of the ground and getting down on top of me it pins me down, the entire swarm flying about over its head. Raising its stingers to attack I kick out, more out of desperation than anything else, and manage to hit one of its legs, making it fall to my side. Not looking at the wasp, I claw at the ground to get up and start running again, but don't get far before the rest of the swarm is on top of me. Ducking, weaving and evading, all I get are superficial wounds but each one sting harsher than the last.

Two Beedrills sweep down for me, thinking quickly I try to wait till the last moment before dodging. It fails, and I very nearly get hurt for my stunt, and in a show of mobility the two insects veer of past each other. Another one dive down to make up for their miss and deliver a hard tackle into my back, making my bones rattle painfully, consequently sending me sprawling on the ground. Wincing from the pain, I try to get up only to get hit in the side and sent crashing into a tree. Somehow having gotten my feet under me during my brief flight I end up leaning against the bark, nursing my aching side while desperately peering for any opening through the swarm of angry insects.

Finding none only adds to my terror that had temporarily taken the backseat after the initial attack. Trying to shake it off, if only for a few more minutes, I prepare myself to simply leg it. Noticing the insects were too large to manoeuvre closer to the tree I'm under I plan my route with the aim of limiting airspace.

I start running again, all too aware that the pain, in addition to the dehydration, are slowing me down. Reaching the next tree, more scratches to show for my efforts, I run around it as close as I can. Picking out another tree, I sprint for it.

Thankfully, my decision to keep close to the trees work in the way that I don't have to be as on guard while near them. Any wasp that tries to attack must come from further away with speed or land on the trunk, both which I could notice ahead of time so long as I kept an eye out. I select another tree and run, if I can keep this up I might make it. If they grow bored of me…

Nausea come over me mid stride, confusing me and making me stumble. Was I poisoned? But they hadn't gotten a real hit in on me! Suddenly I feel something grab me from behind and the ground disappear from beneath my feet. Looking down I marvel for just a second how the distance between me and the earth increase before fighting against the vice like grip of the insect. Unable to get out and with panic getting a hold of me, I stab the Beedrill in the abdomen with my rock, I don't even question how I have been able to keep hold of it for so long.

The pain got the winged devil to drop me. Falling a few meters before doing a harsh landing I quickly, although wobbly, make my way to my feet and mindlessly start running, head pounding painfully from the impact.

~-o0O0o-~

I don't know how far I've ran or for how long, I don't know when I stopped hearing the accursed buzzing, but I know I can't keep running for much longer. Even so I keep on pumping my legs, completely unwilling to stop until I've cleared the forest.

A root catches my foot and I fall face first into the ground. Still terrified I crawl into the side of the tree and cry, the sobs harshly escaping me despite my tries to keep them silenced. Hoping against hope that those things won't find me, that I won't have to see them ever again. Hoping that this is all a really bad dream and I will soon wake up in my bed.

It feels like ages since I was home, in any place familiar to me, with people I know. What have I done to deserve this? This isn't fair, dammit! I simply cry, in fear, in shame of being such a fucking coward and crying like a child over it, and in frustration of it all.

I don't know how long I lay here crying, and to be honest I don't give a shit about that, every minute make me more ashamed of being such a pussy. But, as time pass, I finally start to calm down. With that calm come the realization of my exhaustion, hitting me like a runaway freight train, and I have to fight to stay awake. My pounding headache make it nigh impossible to think, but I'm somehow able to recognise several things about my surroundings.

First of all is that I now can hear that which I have been missing, the sound of birds. I'd never believed I would miss something so small and normal like that. The second thing I notice is that the vegetation had grown denser.

A sign of a nearby water source?

These positive things don't cover up the last thing I notice, however. The feel and smell make my shame rise to another, greater height. "Why… the fucking hell. Dammit." I mutter out with, voice thick from crying, another new set of tears fighting to be let loose.

Using my nearly ruined shirt to dry my face from tears, sweat, mucus and saliva, I stand up, my pants chafing uncomfortably as I do so. Unable to muster any real hope for a connection I reach for the inside of my jacket…

"…" I sigh dejectedly, it's just so fucking typical… at least I now know how to define a near-miss… fuck.

Taking off my jacket I tossing it aside, with how torn up it is it's not going to be of any use, I instead try to decide which way to go. No matter how tired I am, and no matter how much I may want to crawl under a rock and die, I just can't stay here. With nothing but the denser vegetation to go on all I can do is take to listening. It takes a couple of minutes, and I'm honestly not sure, but I think I can hear water flowing. Tiredly, I start walking in that direction.

A minute later I feel it, a feeling similar to before but this time it's not… as heavy? Oppressive? No matter, I freeze in fear regardless. Quickly picking up where it come from, I walk away from it as fast as my body can carry me.

Pushing my way through the underbrush and around trees it soon become perfectly clear to me THAT THE FEELING DOESN'T DIMINISH! I hasten my steps some more, making me go from deep breathing to pants, yet I gain no distance between me and whatever is stalking me. With my luck, it's probably another Beedrill, that thought push me into a panicked sprint.

I barely even notice how my foot get caught by something, what I do notice is the tree I'm heading towards as I stumble and fall. Sharp pain ring through my head. But that, together with my grasp on consciousness quickly fades to darkness.

~-o0O0o-~

Ever woken up with the sun straight into your eyes? You know, when you are still really tired as if you hadn't slept for days and just don't want to get up no matter what? Then you'll und- "MOTHERFUCKING SUN!" – …Understand when I say that…

I roll over, hoping to escape the fiery menace for a few more hours. That proved to be a mistake with me successfully landing on my battered side, making me wince in pain. Curling up and hugging my aching side, I painfully frown. I lay there for a minute, just getting used to the pain coming from the different injuries across my body.

I slowly, not to mention stiffly, make my way to my feet. Sleep temporarily on the back burner. After carefully stretching out I look around, and what I see greatly confuse me. I'm in an open area, and have been lying only five or six meters away from a stream. This is in stark contrast to before, when I was only within subtle hearing distance of any water. I was also surrounded by dense forest vegetation, yet here I'm standing in a ten to fifteen meter opening with low growing grass.

It goes without saying that I have no idea as to how I got here. Actually, how did I even lose consciousness? Let's see… I ran from those Beedrills, but I can't remember anything after getting grabbed.

I shudder at the memory.

Next thing I remember was being crawled up at the side of a tree and…

The shame returns full force. I briefly think about, and quickly cast away, the idea of using my clothes to make a noose. Nothing would come from it… besides, I realise that the feeling is only as permanent as I allow it to be. Give it a few days with it constantly on my mind and I'll be ok, give it two weeks to a month and I shouldn't have too much of a problem talking about it with somebody. Never going to look at wasps the same way again, though.

I shiver at that.

Nevertheless, the idea doesn't sound too bad, making me feel far worse.

With those thoughts and feelings, I head for the stream to get myself, and what remains of my clothes, cleaned up. And get a drink, now that I think about it…

It feels great getting the dirtied clothes off me. The temperature in the air is just right, with the light wind barely giving me a chill. Feeling free, I begin to wash the clothes. As I do it become clear that I had been relatively lucky. My sweater had survived with a few large tears across the front and back, consequently making it impossible to close it, and several small ones all over, the jacket having taken the brunt of the attacks. My tank top had escaped with a few small tears around the torso, while everything below the torso was untouched, if not clean.

By the time I finish my hands have grown slightly numb from the cold water. Laying out the last piece of clothing on the grass to dry I return to the stream to bathe myself. Taking a deep breath in preparation, I walk into the slightly above knee high water… and sit down. A high pitch sound, that I don't want to acknowledge came from me, ring out before I clean myself off as fast as possible.

Practically running out of the water I can say that I both feel cleaner and far more awake than before. Now if only I had something to cover myself from the light wind. I lay down shivering next to my hat, which is somehow unscathed from the Beedrill attack, to let the sun dry me.

Reaching for it to cover my eyes from the sun I make an interesting find that make brow furrow in question. Underneath the hat lay several berries, it's not that there's a bush or tree nearby that they could have fallen from. As far as I could see there were three different kinds of them, each one comparable to ones I'd seen before. Those pink ones looked like strawberries, just pink instead of red, and I could swear that those there are just oversized blueberries. The last red topped/white bottomed ones I can't place the name on, though I'm certain I've seen similar ones in grocery stores before, though these are about half the size of the ones I've seen.

Weren't they roots of some kind?

Anyway, this really do make me wonder how I got here. The last thing I remember doing was running from whatever was giving me that feeling, though the specifics are rather hazy. Did it catch me?

Don't feel very dead, though.

Did someone save me?

I have been up for a while so shouldn't whoever did have returned by now?

Whatever the case is, I've something that I may or may not be able to eat in front of me. I sit down in debate; I don't know if they are poisonous, though if someone did help me they wouldn't leave me something poisonous… That is if someone did save me, and it wasn't me who ran myself ragged before collapsing here after having, for whichever reason, collected them. Leaving that, the berries are plucked and I don't see anything they could have fallen off close to here.

Shrugging, I plop one of the oversized blueberries into my mouth only for my eyes to widen at the sensation.

 _Damn that's hard!_

I have to but a bit of force behind my bite, the thing's as hard as a stone! Actually, isn't this some kind of prank? Some kid hasn't painted semi-round pebbles blue and put them out here in case some idiot decided to eat them!?

Yeah, I called myself an idiot! I damn well have to be to-

"Mh-mmm" Suddenly I'm through the skin and a mix of tastes explode in my mouth, I can't place them but they harmonize with each other well, making it a tasty treat. I'm reluctant to swallow it, more out of a wish for the taste to linger than a fear of potential poison.

Looking forward to tasting the next one, I pick up one of those pink strawberries. Being far easier to bite into, heck, you could easily crush it with little force, I take to enjoying the sweet taste with less problem than the blue one. Despite its size the centre seem hollow, making it less to eat than I first imagined.

The last berry was rather lacklustre in comparison to the previous two, it's obvious which one I should have started with. It was hard, though not as hard as the blue one, thankfully, it also had a rather mild taste, just a hint of sweetness to it. I would have appreciated it more had I eaten it first.

Oh well, live and learn.

I tense as the feeling I have been forced to get used to over the last few days return, this one is strikingly familiar to the one I felt the last time. Ready to bolt, I keep a watchful eye toward where the feeling is emanating, that being further upstream on my side of the water.

A minute pass without any change, it doesn't go away, but it doesn't approach further either. Deciding that a stalemate isn't going to serve any other purpose than tire me out mentally, I return to the remaining berries. I do however make sure to place myself in a way that will allow me to stand face to face to whatever is out there, as well as get away, if it decide to come into the open.

A few minutes later the feeling back off and disappear, allowing me to fully relax again. It does remind me that I'm out in the wilds without any real idea as to what is out there. Choosing to ignore the very real existence of giant insects for the sake of my sanity, I look around the area to see if I can't find any more of those berries.

Twenty to thirty minutes later I can confirm that venture was a bust. Either the berries had been cleanly picked off the area or there were never any berries growing here. This somewhat reinforce the idea that somebody helped me, though the sceptic in me also say that it's possible I picked those berries before coming here. I'm leaning more toward the former however, if only because I don't want to believe I can lose myself as I potentially have. It's also rather uncharacteristic of me to do so. Forgetting things while running in terror, sure, I can see that happening to anyone, even me. But to pick random berries without a memory of doing so? Nuh uh, haven't reached that level of desperation just yet.

Then again, I was severely dehydrated. That would lower once ability to make sound decisions.

That reminds me, when I woke up I wasn't as thirsty as before. Did I run myself ragged while dehydrated, pick some potentially hallucinogenic mushrooms/berries, get myself to a water source, drink, then pass out?

I sure hope not…

Anyway, my foraging wasn't a complete waste of time. While out looking, I found some dandelions, which I know for sure are edible. The hat may not be full of berries, but it got plenty of leaves. With how bitter the one I'm chewing on is, though… not looking forward to eating them, even if they will mitigate the diarrhoea the overconsumption of berries is bound to create.

Putting down the hat and sitting down next to my drying clothes, I lean back with a yawn. Trying to figure out something constructive to do while waiting either for someone to come or for my clothes to dry so I can get to walking, I find nothing constructive. Instead I empty my hat, lay down and cover my eyes for a much-needed nap.

~-o0O0o-~

 _Back again?_ Something has obviously gained a great interest in me…

I don't know for sure how long I slept, but once I woke up I found my clothes completely dry, so it had to have been several hours. With no one around I decided to wait a while longer to see whether someone would come or not only to find myself disappointed. With no real reason to believe one way or the other I made the decision to follow the water downstream, walking with the knowledge that people generally built homes and cities close to water.

It was a couple of hours later that I stopped and made camp about fifty meters away from said water. That said, my "camp" was little more than a fire pit close to a tree. Having lost my "axe", I couldn't do much more than pick up fallen branches and sticks. None of them would work to make a shelter however, leaving me to sleep against the tree.

The night had passed calmly by, with only the distant sounds of whatever animals make their home in the forest. I was left alone though… Or so I'd like to say. I have no idea where they came from or how they got there, but when I woke up the next morning I found several berries in my hat. Either I'm waking in my sleep, which has never happened before, I'm going crazy, which is a horrendous possibility, or someone is going out of their way to keep me feed.

I really don't see how anyone could have snuck up right next to me and place them there, though. It's true that I normally am quite a sleeper that you either have to make a semi-loud noise or call his name to wake, but I'm out in the wild and jumping at shadows. I'm snoozing, not sleeping.

That day was also somewhat strange, with me seeing things moving off to my sides far more often than the day before. And it wasn't as if I had been, or is, deliberately silent and spooked some animal, no I have been careful to make enough sound to warn anything ahead of me that I was there. By the end of that day, the stream had become something akin to a river. The fact that I now were seeing things change around me put me in an overall good mood, even if I felt like I was being stalked.

The setup for the camp was the same as the night before, a simple fire pit and sleeping next to a tree. It was when night had fallen and I were about to fall asleep that I saw a pair of eyes reflected from the other side of the fire. They stayed there for several minutes before disappearing. It goes without saying that I didn't sleep well that night.

Come this morning it was the same as the previous one. I don't know whether I will get grey hairs from fright first, or if I will pull each individual strand out pondering how the hell they succeeded in placing those damnable berries next to me while barely asleep and on high alert.

Honestly, it's damn scary.

My… companion, I suppose I could call it, disappeared again. That feeling have been following me ever since the first meeting. Over the last two days I've been feeling it more, oftentimes accompanied with a rustling of the bushes, or as in the case of the previous night, a stare down.

It's not the only thing I've felt, granted, but it's the one I've come to completely recognise. I've noticed that I passively sense things around me, I instinctually know that there are a few Pidgey-like birds sitting three trees toward my right. They each have their own specific feel, but the overlaying similarity seem to tell me what they are. It seems that they only come up on the "active radar" when they take notice of me though. Thankfully I haven't encountered any more Beedrills or whatever it was the first time, so I haven't had a real reason to run.

Yet at least…

Still, I honestly don't know how to feel about my "companion". Put into perspective it hasn't actually done anything to me, it's also not releasing a feeling like the Beedrill. But it may just be hiding its claws, as they say. Regardless, it's a wild animal and to be treated with respect if nothing else.

I hate that I can't decipher the feelings I get, though, aside from the overlaying and individual feelings. I mean; I saw a Pidgey-like bird sing and look happy, and felt from it the same thing as I feel from my stalker and the Beedrill lookalikes. The difference is the scale of the feelings I get, anything else have been too subtle for me to take notice of.

I plop down on a rock near the river with a sigh. Holding up one of my dandelion leaves I frown at it. I've already grown tired of them. Once again the bitter taste spread in my mouth. Lazily chewing on the green thing, I use my hat to get some water. Swallowing the resulting green paste with a grimace I take a few clunks of water before replacing the hat on my head.

I send a glance up at the sun to get an idea as to what the time was, perhaps about 3 o'clock. I think? One would think I had a rough idea of how long a day is by now… No such luck.

The by now familiar feeling return and I take a second to focus on it.

 _Back again? You haven't got_ anything _better to do but follow me?_ Am I really that interesting?

Yep, it's gone so far that as long as I'm more or less in the open and there is daylight I'm actually able to relax with the presence across the river. Suppose it went across the tree a kilometre upstream. Better it be on that side than the one I'm walking on, if you ask me. So long as it keeps its distance, then it can follow me all the way out of the forest, through the desert and back to civilization.

 _I just jinxed myself there, didn't I?_ NO, I'm not disgruntled about my current situation! NOT in THE VERY leeeeaast!

Swallowing the last, now very unappetizing, leaf I push myself back on my feet. I would have to find more later, which wouldn't be too hard with the abundance that grew along the riverside. An unexpected place to find them, perhaps, but I am not going to question what luck has been graced me.

"Pidgeoo!"

A large shadow travel quickly over me as an equally large bird fly by overhead. A black bird with a brown underside and yellow and red tail feathers.

Frankly, beyond playing a couple of games for the Gameboy when I was a kid, I never really had any true interest in Pokémon. The closest correlation I have with the franchise today is being a watcher of anime, and even then, it was different genres than the one Pokémon would have been placed in.

Giving the airborne creature a studying look I could only marvel at its similarity to the evolved form of Pidgey.

 _No, it practically is a Pidgeotto…_

Even having been chased by an angry swarm of Beedrill I have a few reservations towards calling the creatures around me Pokémon, strong resemblance or not. That said, I know of no species of insect that's nearly as large as a grown man… or have caterpillars the size of my forearm, for that matter. Still, the similarities between the animals around me and the ones in the famous franchise are striking to a, honestly, fascinating degree.

But just as there was a striking resemblance to the Pokémon I remember, there are also distinct differences. Mainly in size and colorization. The bird that just flew by weren't just in largely the wrong colours, but also seemed large enough to carry _me_ on its back. And the caterpillar I found had been a sharp red with light blue highlights in the all too familiar pattern of circles you would find on a Caterpie. I don't remember how a shiny looked, but I somehow doubt that they had that specific coloration.

 _Even some of the... ugh, Beedrills… was the wrong colour from what I remember…_ I shiver merely thinking about those hells spawned demons. Seriously, fuck nature and arm me with the most powerful insect spray in existence, I'm on a crusade to make them go extinct!

Not really… But fuck them anyway!

With the large bird disappearance beyond the trees I continue walking along the purling waters, and continue pondering the idea of the creatures around me being actual Pokémon.

~-o0O0o-~

As per the natural state of the world, the giant ball of dirt underneath my feet that passes for a planet continued its inevitable rotation around its axis, turning away from the sun and turning light into dark and day into night, and, as have become the norm over the last couple of days, I find myself in the middle of setting up a campfire to ward of potential predators.

In stark contrast to the established norm, though, I'm in a good mood, at least somewhat. Not only have I yet to find a hint of human intervention in the forest, but the continuous walking has finally caught up to me and my legs are largely disagreeing with _any_ further movement, making finding firewood a slower venture than ever. The reason for my good mood lie in another area than my body and exist in abundance near my chosen campsite.

Sitting down with a tired exhale, I start the long and painful process of getting a fire started. Still somewhat early in my mind, but I learned my lesson after that first night.

Thirty or so minutes later a single word escapes my mouth: "Heavy…" The heat of the now lit fire hit my face, but did little to remedy the tiredness I felt in my arms. This was definitely the worst part of the day, lighting the fire was tiring and hard to do, and it took too long.

Grabbing my hat, I stood up and walked to the different bushes in the area, collecting the berries that I readily recognize off the branches. Not too long afterwards do I retake my seat next to the fire, hat full of the natural sweets that had helped keep me alive and my morale up the last few days.

Eating my fill, unworried about breakfast due to the true treasure trove I had found, I laid down for a well-deserved rest.

~-o0O0o-~

*THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP…*

My eyes snap open from my fitful sleep in terror, an all too familiar feeling radiating throughout my whole being.

Wasps fly around me, a crescendo of buzzing, stinging arms reaching, giant stripped bodies surround me, on the hunt…

I shake my head out of the images that come unbidden, trying to cling to my calm and reason instead of the instinctive wish to flee that's welling up within.

The rustling of the nearby bushes makes my head shoot up in the direction of the sound. A dark and blurred world surround me but I'm able to make out something large, yet long and relatively slim move about just beyond the edge of the clearing. Trying to keep the… whatever it was, within my sight, my hands slowly trace and fumble around in search of my glasses.

*RUSTLE*

My head spin in the new direction of the sound, eyes snapping between the two locations so fast I barely register one image before its replaced by the other.

Finally getting a hold of my glasses, I slowly put them on.

I see nothing…

The feeling hasn't gone away, but I see nothing and no sound is made prevalent.

 _Where did you go…_ My eyes narrow in focus, anger replacing my fear.

 _If this is only to scare me, I'll be pissed._

*RUSTLE, RUSTLE*

This time it came from behind and my eyes naturally follow the sound even if I can't make out the reason for it. With my vision near useless in the dark I focus on my hearing in an attempt to pick up whatever sound made itself forthcoming.

Nothing. Whatever is out there is far too quiet for this to be anything less than a hunt. I slowly rise, with me being on the menu, the last thing I want to do is to give my hunter anything to use, least of all panic. And who knows, maybe my size will deter it.

It's a hollow thought, I realize, but it's the only positive one I can truly muster. I don't have the stamina to run for an extended period, nor am I fast enough to get away. No, the only path that I can see is intimidation and, in the worst-case scenario, fight. Showing my back to climb a tree isn't an option, and perhaps it never was.

*RUSTLE*

My eye stray to my left. Nothing.

*RUSTLE, RUSTLE*

Now to my four o'clock. Either its real fast on its feet, or there's more than one. Not a happy thought.

*RUSTLE, RUSTLE*

…

…

Silence… Deafening silence stretch out afterwards.

…

…

 _C'mon, c'mon, don't leave me hanging… just show yourself…_

…

…

… nothi-

I give a startled cry and jump backwards as a large serpentine body leap into my field of view with a loud hiss, blocking the path straight ahead of me. Another two thuds land behind me and off to the side. My head swivel to ascertain the positions of my attackers, only adding to the dizzying effect that my rapid breathing was providing.

 _Calm down! Calm… The fuck… Down!_

Although in a myriad of colours, I still find myself recognising their appearance. The length of the three snakes ranged from three meters to approximately 7, each one ending with a massive cleaver like tail that glistened with venom even in the limited moonlight that found its way down through the canopy. The other end of the large snake wasn't any better with two large sabre-toothed fangs being bared in my direction.

For the briefest of seconds, I find myself wondering just how these creatures ate with teeth so large that they barred the mouth even while wide open, but my morbid curiosity die just as quick as it takes me to remember that I was to be the food that proved it possible.

Their hunting strategy was obvious; they had taken up a semi-circle around me, their sides presented in a way that would enable them to strike with either teeth or tail if I tried to flee. They were hissing threateningly and making fake lunges toward me, attempting to make me lose my composure and run.

And frankly, calling it anything less than effective would have been a discredit. Still, as nervous as being surrounded by large and angry snakes were making me, I somehow manage to cling to the sliver of anger that kept me from losing it.

There was an obvious hole in their strategy, literally. A member of this group must have been missing, leaving an obvious gap between two of them.

 _Stay and hope they hunt like wolves, or acknowledge that they don't need me coming to them and start running, hoping to whichever deity that's out there that they don't manage to hit me or bite me, and are too slow in pursuit._

It wasn't much of a choice, staying or running were just as likely to make me into snake food. But running at least gave me the possibility of maybe getting away, whether that meant climbing a tree or getting to the other side of the river-stream.

 _Wait, snakes can't swim, can they?_ They can… and well at that.

 _Water is out…_ I somewhat want to cry from that revelation. Finding something to climb and hoping against hope that they couldn't follow was the only option left.

I dart through the gap with as much speed as I can muster. It must have startled my hunters if the sudden lack of hissing and the non-existent rustling of bushes that I ran through was any indication.

*HISS!*

"Ah… there… it is…" I heard as they dove through the bushes in pursuit.

"Viper! Seviper!"

"Vipe ser Seviper-viper!

 _Oh, goody, they communicate!_ That's not good, that's not good, that's not good at all!

Fast, they are fast enough to keep up with me. I'm no world winner, actually I'm a lazy and fat fuck, but that's just not fair!

 _Don't think about it, DON'T think about it_ , around trees, zigzag… Over rocks, round trees, jumping and sprinting and turning.

Finally, I collapse, dread filling my entirety as I realize that I have nothing left to give, the effects of a lack of food and a subpar diet was rearing its head. The sound of the snakes diving their way through the underbrush came only moments later. I turn on my back in a wasted attempt to keep track of the three Sevipers, crawling backwards against a tree.

 _So… this is how I die? Cornered like a rat by three overgrown snakes…_

Stinging and buzzing, **stinging and buzzing** , **STINGING AND BUZZING**!

My anger is gone, replaced by fear and terror. The feeling that I haven't been able to make sense of is surrounding me, compounding my own feelings. My instincts scream at me to get up, but my body no longer moves, it argues that I'm going to die, but neither my mind nor body react.

Everything is gone, only the dripping venom off the fangs and cleaver-tails register in my mind. One of them scrunch up, ready to launch and I close my eyes in a desperate bid to wake up from this nightmare.

*THUD* *HISS*

The wood at my back shake and a pained hiss come from my right.

"Seviper! Viper!"

*HISS!*

*HISS!*

"Se-per, Seviper viper, viper!"

"Seviper?!"

"Viper!"

*THUD*

"Seviper!"

The slithering on grass disappears into the distance, leaving an uncomfortable silence in the air. I can, through my newly acquired sense, feel the trios dangerous feeling slowly regress like a fog, and through the gaps of that fog I could sense something that I either couldn't or didn't up till now.

 _"A-are you alright?"_ The sudden voice of a girl snaps my eyes open in shock, but even more so, hope.

Nothing. My head turns left… nothing. It turns right, finding the same.

 _"Down here…"_

"Ralts…" I don't think my eyes could go wider if I wanted them to, which I don't, just to be clear, but with the two voices stimulating my senses… no, sense, singular. The voice that is actual language is different from the stimulation that hearing brings to the ear, the voice that said 'Ralts'.

Mechanically, and somewhat fearfully, do I look down ahead of me. And stare…

 _"Hello…"_ The voice sounds somewhat nervous as the thing in front of me lifts an arm in a wave. I ignore this for the sake of a single conclusion: I don't recognize the creature in front of me. The name, I recognize, but the thing in front of me is far from my picture of a Ralts.

Leaving aside the coloration, which I've gotten used to being wrong by now, it was looking... well, like a boy in shorts rather than a one piece dragging in the ground. Secondly was the hairstyle, I have always imagined them as looking somewhat like a walking mushroom in a way, with the red eyes being covered by the green hair.

This one had neither green hair looking like a mushroom cap or red eyes, but as much as I'm disinclined to describe either as gems… well. The hair was as violet as an amethyst and the eyes looked like sapphires, one accentuating the other. Thankfully, the horn… thingies, followed the same formula that I remembered, the same colour as the eyes. The hair was shorter than what I remembered, at least partially. The front had a single long bang that partially covered the creatures left eye, while the other side was styled backwards in a spiky fashion. At the same time, it was obvious that the hair at the back of its head was longer, reaching its shoulders.

 _Whoever this things parents where were too flashy to have survived in the wild…_

 _"I wouldn't know, as I've never met them. Also, I'm not a thing!"_

"Ralts." It crossed its arms, ruffling the midnight blue clothes. And I assume that it calling its own name was it huffing at me…

 _"And I'm not an it, either!"_ It- um, she, looked me straight in the eye, whatever nerves that i- she had about talking to me seemingly gone in the face of my insulting comments.

"Wait, you can talk?" Duh, idiot. I already knew that, but somewhere within my mind did I feel a need for confirmation.

The facepalm and sideway glance from the Ralts was ample confirmation.

 _"Are you ok? Didn't hit your head, or something?"_ I don't think I did, but it would go a way to explain the voice in my head, and the current situation. Or the last several days.

"Ral." _"I'll just ignore that comment. C'mon, let's get you back to where you were."_

The moment that I opened my mouth I knew it was going to sound stupid, "You can read my mind?"

I registered the information that was given me and processed it successfully, but the conclusion was so ludicrous that my brain plain and simply refused to compute it.


	2. News Update

This… is frustrating… _Really_ frustrating.

First of all, this is not a new chapter, this simply me venting for a bit while providing info. I _have_ started on a new chapter, but that one is currently on hold. The reason for this is that I hate, _hate_ , the standard I set for the first chapter of this series.

Now, I'm sure most of you are going to say that it's fine, but **_barely awful_** is not a standard I want to have on _any_ of my chapters on any of my stories, for this reason I've started to rewrite the first chapter. I suspect that it's going to be longer than the original and hopefully be better focused when it comes to my 1st person view of writing.

God knows why in the hell I decided to torture myself by writing it like that, but I suppose I'll just consider it a rather painful challenge.

For this reason, I want to ask all that have followed and favourited this story to reread the first chapter and post a review of it, and I don't mean a single word of 'more, or questions like 'when will the next chapter come out' or any other such form of comment, but to be downright critical of what I'm writing. I may be rewriting the chapter, but that doesn't mean that the feedback isn't useful.

I don't have a beta, and I doubt I'll get one for a while due to me not having anything really planned with this story, but even if I had one you, as the reader, have a great amount of power in the standard of this writing. Just like I don't accept a half assed job from myself, neither should you, **_demand_** the best quality I can give you. This story should be likened to a ship, it may be leaky, it may have holes, no motor, no sail, no oars, be rotting, rusting, need cleaning and maintenance, so point **_every single thing you notice_** out to me because that is the **_only_** way you can expect it to become better and not sink into the ocean of bad fanfiction.

Don't put this story on a pedestal because its successfully reached average, I only find that insulting, but if you guys continue pounding on it. _That_ is what I mean with a response, if I see there's a reason to continue, if I can develop, I'm damn well going to take that chance and think up stuff to write.

For those that have no idea what to look for; character actions, story flow, spelling, grammar, emotional response on your end, believability of the scenario and happenings are all things that I want feedback on.

It is my personal belief that a reader that like a fanfiction should give feedback to the writer, because that will in the long run improve the writing, story and portrayal of characters and therefore increase your enjoyment while reading. Similarly, I believe that a writer should be ready and willing to rewrite a story or earlier chapters to maintain quality. I _expect_ to have to rewrite my earlier chapters because I know that I'll get better at writing the more I do so, and I don't want my previous inexperience or lack of style be the thing that keeps readers away.

Anyway, I'm roughly one third through the chapter and I can promise that that part is looking much better than the original, the finished product should be barely recognizable by the time I'm finished. Once I am, I'll continue with the second chapter. Fair warning though, I am officially balancing and jumping between two stories, so time is a factor I can't make any promises on.

Cheers.

Curu

Ps

For those that are interested in knowing the progress of the writing of the stories I got currently posted on this site, just check out my profile. I update it semi-regularly, like when I post a new chapter or (with some failure on my side) at the end of the month.


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